What mass communication effects are possible that have not yet occurred because no effort has been made to achieve them? Why has there been only limited success in mass communication efforts attempted already? For people to be communicatively affected, they have to be behaviorally affected. People are generally weak behaviorally, especially in the…

When education (teaching and/or learning) is considered to be an art, then it seems obvious that the methods of artistic inquiry would be appropriate analysis techniques. Such analysis seems to be rare or non-existent in educational technology. Semiotics, the theory of signs, provides one such set of methodologies for examining text. This…

Describes a model for a school media center which will serve as a strategic learning facility. The model is based upon research in both media and education dealing with behavioristic psychology, personality theory, cognitive psychology, and theories of learning as information processing. (Author/FM)

Responds to criticism of the uses and gratification model by proposing a modified model integrating the dependency perspective. Suggests that this integrated model broadens the heuristic application of the earlier model. (MS)

Discusses the nature of motion media (i.e., film and television) and describes a theoretical model of communication, the Iconic Phenomena Communication Model. Topics discussed include types of imagery; symbolic representations; motion media and the mind; and semiotics in the study of film and television. (four references) (LRW)

Argues that the information-processing paradigm can both revitalize so-called strong-effects theories in mass media research and make them more inclusive. Discusses how the four previous studies in this issue show the use of simple solutions to problems that have plagued mass-media-effects research and call out for further inclusion of discussions…

Notes that media scholars often resist the use of the evolutionary paradigm. Discusses two problems: an overly simplistic view of evolutionary models; and a distrust of ideological implications. Develops an evolutionary model proposing that gender differences in the consumption of sexually explicit media is, in part, the result of inherited…

This paper analyzes Robert Epstein's Academy Award winning documentary "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt," which consciously employs a binary rhetoric, a "common" method, by which to read the complex narrativity of the Names Project Quilt (the quilt memorial to AIDS victims). The paper addresses the inherently rhetorical…

This symposium paper looks at three paradigms for naturalistic research on visuals: the positivistic, the interpretive, and the critical approaches. Discussion centers on questions of epistemology, such as "What do you mean?" and "How do you know?" The place of naturalistic inquiry within this discussion is indicated, and…

Considers how definitions of teaching and learning have informed educational broadcasters' rationales for their work and how these are manifested in the textual strategies of specific programs. A theoretical framework for accounting for the ways educational television seeks to implicate its viewers in the learning process is then developed. (RP)

On the premise that legal research in mass communication should be scientific and grounded in theory based upon available knowledge about how the world works, it is argued in this paper that the research paradigm used by most communication-law scholars is inadequate. In the first section of the paper the current, "institution-centered"…

This paper examines the tradition of research within the field of educational technology and cites problems endemic to the dominant research methods. It is suggested that a reexamination of the history of the field has intrinsic merit and is necessary at this time; furthermore, historical analysis may assist in the development of new research…

This paper discusses the implications of James D. Thompson's generalized model of the organization model for organizational- and institutional-level analysis of the newspaper. The paper focuses on the following points of consideration and how they apply to newspapers: (1) organizations are open systems operating under norms of rationality; (2) the…

Research in the field of computer based instruction (CBI) has led to conflicting evidence on the efficacy of learner control over instruction. Typical implementations of learner control in CBI allow learners to proceed at their own pace, control the sequence of instruction, choose the amount of practice, or decide the level of difficulty…

Media historians have been criticized for their inability to ask substantive questions, for ignoring underlying conditions in media's past, and for their failure to relate the narration of technological developments to existing social and cultural tensions. One problem media historians confront is the scope of their research--many media histories…